8-Day Directed Silent Ignatian Retreat FAQ

This retreat is more about “being” than doing. You will spend time each day in prayer and reflection (usually 4-5 set “prayer periods” of at least 45 minutes) and you will meet with your spiritual director each day. You are also encouraged to enjoy individual leisure time (music, puzzles, art) and exercise daily. Eucharistic liturgy is offered each day and there will be opportunities for sacrament of reconciliation.

Spiritual Exercises refers to the handbook written by St. Ignatius based on his own personal spiritual experience and that of others to whom he listened. It is an organized series of spiritual exercises that invite individuals to meditate on Christian faith and to contemplate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although ultimately God is “directing” your retreat, each person is assigned a spiritual director. A spiritual director is someone who is committed to prayer, and has training and experience with Ignatius spirituality and Scripture. You will meet with your spiritual director each day for approximately 30-45 minutes. Your director will listen to your reflections about how God is present in your life. S/he will offer Scripture passages and other materials for your prayer and reflection.

You will be speaking with your director at daily meetings and also have the opportunity to pray aloud at daily liturgy. Silence is not the focus of the retreat, but it is a necessary component of a fruitful retreat. God speaks to us in many ways, and at times God speaks to us through our conversations with others. However, the 8-Day Retreat is a privileged time when we can tune out the noise and distractions of our regular routines in order to more intentionally focus on our relationship with God.

In order to be open to the ways and times that God wishes to communicate with each person; all retreatants are asked to maintain an atmosphere of silence for the duration of the retreat. In this setting silence is an attitude of making space for God in your life. Silence invites you to give your attention to all the ways that God can speak to you without the distractions of noise, gossip, and business. The silence and solitude is not a withdrawal from, but an opening to; we are not leaving the world but allowing ourselves to be present to it, to be touched by it, and thus better come to realize our place in it.